Page 76 of No Cap

I blinked open one eye and came face to face with Godzilla.

“Get off me,” I grumbled, unsure where to push to get him to go away.

He didn’t move, so I had to grit my teeth and forcibly remove him from my chest before heading to the bathroom.

By the time I got back, my phone had vibrated right off the nightstand and was now beeping underneath the bed.

I bent down to grab it and saw a couple of file folders there.

I snatched up my phone, turned it off, then reached for one of the file folders.

I was just about to flip it open when I stopped myself.

Invasion of privacy wasn’t my thing.

Nor was doing anything that might make her mad at me.

I didn’t want to get her upset with me.

I liked her, and I didn’t want her using anything against me to push me away.

I wanted in there.

I wanted to stay in there, too.

Standing up, I caught up my clothes from last night and got dressed.

I headed out to the kitchen to find her coffee pot, and was rewarded with a real coffee pot, not a single use one.

While I was sitting at her table waiting for the coffee to brew, I ordered some groceries for her to arrive when she got home since I knew it would be another late night.

I had three unsolved murders on my plate, and I had about ten people to talk to today about them.

The coffee pot finished brewing, and I placed ‘order’ on my phone for groceries that I knew would be over the top to my little Maverick.

The last thing I did before leaving was clean up after myself, then order a meal to be sent to the hospital for her.

After locking and closing her door, thankful that I didn’t need to move any iguana tails out of the way as I did, I headed outside to my truck.

I was just pulling out when I saw Costas drive by again.

Why was he here?

My Netflix queue looks like I’m trying to learn how to be a murderer.

—Hollis to Quincy

HOLLIS

My day had been rough.

Not because of a bad day workwise, but because I’d been so freakin’ tired.

I should’ve taken Quincy’s advice and called in sick, but I was stubborn.

I didn’t like it when people called in sick for no reason and I had to work alone, so I wouldn’t be doing it to someone else.

The only good thing about showing up today happened about three hours before my shift was supposed to end.